“None, if I don’t getcaught.”
It was amazing how little her absolute lack of remorse for breaking the law bothered me.In this situation, if one of my friends were missing, I’d feel thesameway.
I stepped up behind her, dropping a palm on each shoulder.“Don’t getcaught.”
“Don’t worry.It’s the Feds.They’re not that good at backtracing.”
I looked over her shoulder.“What are youlookingfor?”
“I wanted to see what kind of surveillance they were running, and what they were planning to bring Carlos in for, but there’s not a single mention of his name anywhere.Not even a basic file.Didn’t Heath say they were investigating him?There should besomething.”
“Maybe they’re keeping it off thebooks.”
“Or maybe they’re not doing jack shit,” Ari countered.“No warrants.No reports.No surveillance.Nada.Who the hell is Heath having look into thisanyway?”
“He didn’t give me a name.I’llfindout.”
Her fingers kept flying.“If he weren’t my brother, I’d wonder if he was lying about having someone look into it, because there’s literally nothing.It doesn’t make anysense.”
“They have to be keeping it off the books then.I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.I’ll get in touch with himagain.”
I fired off a text to Heath asking for a name.His response came just asquickly.
Heath:Tell Ari to quit doing her thing.I’m workingonit.
When I relayedhis message to her, her face screwed up into an angry expression and she grabbed her ownphone.
Ari:I have two employees missing, and one of them is Erik.His apartment was unlocked.Don’t tell me not to do anythingaboutit.
Heath: I’ll call in a favor and have them check on him.Probablynothing.
Ari: Cops are already involved.Dobetter.
Ari released a growl of frustration.“He knows Erik and Esme are basically myfamily!”
“I know.We’re going to figure it out.Let’sbrainstorm.”
53
Ariel
Esme called backtwo hours later, and this time the panic in her voice had morphed intohysteria.
“The cops won’t do anything.His car is here but his bike is missing, so they said he must be out for a long ride.”She paused.“But I hacked into his search-engine history, and before we left work last night, he looked up Jan Hofer’s address.What if ...what if he went to find her and something bad happened?What if he never even made it home last night?He’s back on that stupidride your bike to workkick again, and Jan’s place isn’t that farfromhis.”
Dread curdled in my belly.“Shit,” Iwhispered.
“I’m hacking all the camera feeds around his and Jan’s places.If the cops won’t do anything, I’ll find him my damn self,” Esmevowed.
“Good.I’ve got part of the security team looking for Carlos, and I’m running down any properties he couldbeat.”
“If you find anaddress—”
“No, Esme.You go nowhere by yourself.Promiseme.”
“Fine, but if that asshole did somethingtohim—”
“It’ll be on me, and I’ll make sure he gets what’s coming to him, I swear it.”I wished I could hug her, because both of us needed it.“Stay safe, and call me if you findanything.”